Members of the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team visited a local chicken farm owner in Khinj district, Panjshayr province recently.

Shanawaz Khan is a Go Joeal villager who started his chicken farm about 16 months ago with 30 chickens. Khan now has more than 800 laying hens and he looks to continue the growth of his business in the future.

“I’d like to have 8,000 chickens to produce enough eggs for all of Panjshayr and one day, all of Afghanistan,” Khan said through an interpreter.

“He impressed me from the beginning with his … experience and vision,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeffrey Casada, Kentucky National Guard Agribusiness Development Team leader.

The Kentucky agribusiness team visited Khan to see the condition of the farm and talk with him about his plans for the future of his operation.

Khan says he sells many of his eggs at the Anaba Bazaar and adds that he has customers from Kabul who like his “country” eggs as opposed to the “city” eggs.

Currently, Khan said there is more demand than he can keep up with.

“Sometimes I turn off my phone because people call asking for eggs even after we’ve run out,” he said.

In the future, Khan would like to move to a new location with a bigger facility to provide more space for feeding with additional nesting boxes for his chickens.

“Ideally, a chicken farm has one nesting box for every six hens. The chicken farm here has one nesting box for every 20 hens,” Casada said.

Khan talked with the Kentucky agribusiness team about getting funds for his future goals. The Kentucky ADT said a micro grant or low-interest loan may be options for Khan to get the money to make his goals happen.

A micro grant puts money in the hands of private entrepreneurs to expand their operations and Khan may be a good candidate.

“We look for people with energy and enthusiasm who already have something going,” Casada said. “Whatever is done, we want to help in a way that will be sustainable for years to come.”

DVIDS

The Parwan Department of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock chicken farm has 800 chickens (600 hens and 200 roosters). The hens are laying up to 4,000 eggs a week. Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Peter Ferrell

Three employees from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington and one USDA employee from Kabul and the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team visited the Parwan Department of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock chicken farm Sept. 22.

Bobby Ritchey, assistant deputy director, Doug Berman, director of fragile materials, and Paul Trupo, all USDA employees from Washington, and Rod McSherry, the ministry director of the USDA in Kabul, were led by U.S. Army Lt. Col. Roger Hamm, the Kentucky ADT team leader from Morehead, Ky.

One purpose of the visit was to view firsthand the progress made at the chicken farm since 800 chickens (600 hens 200 roosters) were purchased.

In addition, Shamir Amiri, Parwan Director of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock, visited to see how the local farmers are doing.

There has been solid progress at the chicken farm, as the chickens are producing up to 4,000 eggs a week. The next step is to take some of these eggs and incubate them to produce more chickens, which will then be distributed to the farmers.

“Americans want to know something good is happening here, and we can see it in reality” said McSherry.

The other part of the visit was to meet with Amiri at the DAIL compound. The group of visitors discussed the needs and issues of farmers in Afghanistan.

Ritchey told Amiri the DAIL is an important step in getting the farmers’ needs and concerns addressed.

“Irrigation, cold storage and dehydration for the fruits and vegetables, and trellises for the grapes,” said Amiri about the current needs for farmers in the area.

Other issues discussed were the packaging and transportation of the farmers’ produce to sell in Pakistan.

In addition, Hamm was told there are currently 500 farmers growing soy beans in the area.

Overall, the meeting was another example in using technical experts from the U.S. to assist the local people by improving the agribusiness of Parwan.

RC-East
Written by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Peter Ferrell
Task Wolverine Public Affairs,
86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain)

We’re reaching a point where some of our soldiers in Iraq are more in danger from a stampede than from enemy action. And look at the author’s name, just for a yolk.

Chicken farming in Iraq is moving toward pre-war levels, as coalition forces work with farmers to overcome challenges.

Dialogue has begun on how to increase production with the owners of seven chicken houses in the region where the 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, operates.

The community of Abu Lukah, one of the first areas where soldiers discovered chicken houses, has four chicken houses, three of which are functioning. The first visit by the unit was at the end of January, during which the owner, Abdul Sataar, had just begun a new cycle. Recently the unit revisited Chicken House No. 1 to check on the status of operations. It had been about 35 days since the arrival of the first batch of chicks, and in about 10 days the chickens would be ready for sale.

Of the initial 7,500 chicks, only 210 died during this cycle, a 2.8 percent loss for Abdul Sataar. He will sell the chickens to the highest bidder from the Baghdad, Karbala or Hilla markets.

“This is an absolute success story,” said Capt. David Stewart, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3-7th Infantry Regiment. “Abdul conducts his business without coalition assistance and is able to maintain profitability.”

Recently, four other chicken houses were discovered in the Abu Jasim area. Two had about 2,000 chickens and were able to produce seven crates filled with 350 eggs each. The farm is operating at about 50 percent of capacity due to limited electricity and fuel to run the generators. Profit from the eggs is being used to buy fuel and to keep the farm running, Stewart said.

The other two chicken houses face the same challenges, Stewart added. They have 24,000 white chickens and 18,000 red chickens, and are able to produce 77 crates of eggs daily.

Because limited electricity affects their capacity, the farmers are unable to sell chickens and to produce feed to sell at the market, Stewart said. The short-term solution is to replace the generators. The famers now have three generators, two of which need repairs.

The long-term solution, the captain said, is to get off the generators and use industrial power. Efforts are going to be focused on fixing the power to greatly impact the community, Stewart added.

(Army 1st Lt. William Perdue serves in the public affairs office of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team.)

DoD
By 1st Lt. William Perdue, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service